Outfest 2005, the 23rd annual Los Angeles gay and lesbian film festival, runs July 7-18 and features 232 films and videos from 28 countries in nine different venues over 12 days. There are 66 feature film programs, 17 short film programs, seven special events and six panels.

Among these films is the riveting documentary entitled We Are Dad. The film takes an in-depth look at the lives of Steven Lofton, Roger Croteau and the five HIV-positive children they are raising as foster parents. Three of the children – Frank, Tracy and Bert – were placed in Lofton and Croteau’s care by Florida’s Department of Children and Families when they were infants. Wayne and Ernie were placed with the family by the state of Oregon three years ago when the family left Florida to be closer to Lofton’s elderly parents in Portland. Care of the children remained under the laws and supervision of Florida under a standard relocation agreement.

All of the children were born into families that could not care for them prior Lofton and Croteau taking them into foster care. Lofton quit his job at the state’s request in order to take care of the children full time, managing the complex medical needs associated with HIV.

On Jan. 10, the United States Supreme Court refused to hear the case of Lofton v. State of Florida, which challenged Florida’s ban on adoption by gay couples. The court declined by a 6-6 vote to reconsider an earlier 2-1 decision in 2004 by a three-member panel of the appeals court in Atlanta, Ga., which upheld the law. The ACLU, who filed challenge to the law in 1999, asked the Supreme Court to hear the appeal.

Florida is the only state with a blanket law prohibiting gays and lesbians from adopting children, and it stems from Anita Bryant’s 1977 “Save Our Children” campaign, which repealed the Dade County gay rights law. Bryant’s actions built an impetus against gay adoption in Florida.

Bert, one of Lofton’s and Croteau’s children, was born HIV positive but is now HIV negative. He is now viewed as “adoptable” by the state of Florida, and the state wants to remove Bert from his home with Lofton and Croteau. Florida continues to send letters to the family updating them on potential adoptive parents for Bert.

We Are Dad is produced and directed by Michel Horvat and was acquired for Showtime from All Channel Films. Horvat spoke with the Gay & Lesbian Times about the reasons for making the documentary, his feeling on the gay adoption ban in Florida and the challenges he faced while filming this insightful documentary.

Gay & Lesbian Times: How did you decide to make this documentary?

Michel Horvat: I used to baby sit these kids. I was a friend of the family about 12 to 15 years ago. They used to kind of just go, “How are you doing? Here are the kids; we’re going out.” I would take care of these kids and I kind of became the de facto uncle. When I saw the whole situation happening in Florida and what Florida was putting them through, I figured I wanted to do something about it. I kept on hearing all these funny stories and all this hilarious stuff that was going on, and I thought, “Somebody’s got to catalogue this. Somebody’s got to tell this story,” and little did I know it would be me. Apart from being what it is, they’re funny people. There are some really funny stories that I can tell.

GLT: What did you see in Steven and Roger that made them stand out as people?

MH: They’re very passionate about what they do and they’re very compassionate. These guys made a decision to have this life and to do this, and that’s pretty extraordinary. Everybody else at the time, people were running away from people with AIDS. They [Lofton and Croteau] were bringing AIDS babies into their house. That’s pretty incredible. When I saw that and then when I saw what Florida was trying to do, which is take them apart and just do anything they could to get in their way. I thought, “You know what? I’ve got to do something.” Whenever you’re around them, you just end up laughing within two seconds because they are just very funny people. When I keep on saying that it’s because that’s part of what keeps them going. Can you imagine bringing five HIV-positive babies into your house? Because of that, it’s all about finding the lighter side of stuff … They work within the system but they also kind of make fun of the system.

GLT: What were some of the more interesting situations that developed while making the film, and any of the challenges you faced?

MH: The toughest thing was biting my tongue when I was interviewing the Christian fundamentalists. That was the toughest thing because they’re pretty evil. The stuff they say, “Homos should have been put in concentration camps” and, “How dare they compare themselves to other minorities” … It wasn’t my job to argue with them. It was my job to get their opinions out and get it on film. That was really tough. I think what’s really tough is seeing how what a concerted effort Florida makes to undermine this and other families like them.

GLT: What do you think the outlook is for gay adoption becoming legal in Florida?

MH: It’s dim. Not only that, look at Texas – they just tried to pass a law where gay people wouldn’t be able to foster. People say, “What’s so important about that?” Think about the message that you’re sending, because kids can’t be near gay people because they’re not going to have a positive influence on them. That’s a really, really scary thing to be able to start telling people: “Yeah, you gays can do whatever you want, but God forbid you have a child in the room. You’re not even fit to foster.” Unless things get better, they’re going to get worse. You got some nasty stuff going on out there. When I made the film I thought I have to bring this stuff to light. I don’t want to be angry about it. I just want to enlighten people, but I also don’t want to bum them out. This family has done such amazing things. I just thought because they’re so funny, bring a lot of humor to it and show all people what these people are about. That was my approach. So people would see what this family is about and realize there is nothing to fear.

GLT: Do you think gay adoption is becoming more common these days?

MH: I think it’s important for gay men to realize they should have the right to be afforded the same spectrum of desire about parenting, or not parenting, as anybody else. It speaks about rights. It doesn’t matter whether you want to be a gay dad or not to enjoy this film.

For Outfest 2005 tickets and screening information, call (213) 480-7065, or visit www.gaylesbiantimes.com for a link to the Outfest 2005 Web site.